AN
ACT Relating to regulation of plumbers; amending RCW 18.106.010, 18.106.020,
18.106.030, 18.106.050, and 18.106.070; adding a new section to chapter 18.106
RCW; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. A
new section is added to chapter 18.106 RCW to read as follows:
The
department shall adopt requirements that qualify a journeyman plumber to be
issued a medical gas piping installer endorsement.
Sec.
2. RCW
18.106.010 and 1995 c 282 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless
a different meaning is plainly required by the context, the following words and
phrases as hereinafter used in this chapter shall have the following meaning:
(1)
"Advisory board" means the state advisory board of plumbers;
(2)
"Department" means the department of labor and industries;
(3)
"Director" means the director of department of labor and industries;
(4)
"Journeyman plumber" means any person who has been issued a
certificate of competency by the department of labor and industries as provided
in this chapter;
(5)
"Medical gas piping" means oxygen, nitrous oxide, high pressure
nitrogen, medical compressed air, and medical vacuum systems;
(6)
(("Specialty plumber" means anyone who has been issued a specialty
certificate of competency limited to installation, maintenance, and repair of
the plumbing of single family dwellings, duplexes, and apartment buildings
which do not exceed three stories;)) "Medical gas piping
installer" means a journeyman plumber who has been issued a medical gas
piping installer endorsement.
(7)
"Plumbing" means that craft involved in installing, altering,
repairing and renovating potable water systems, liquid waste systems, and
medical gas piping systems within a building((: PROVIDED, That)). Installation
in a water system of water softening or water treatment equipment ((shall))
is not ((be)) within the meaning of plumbing as used in this
chapter;
(8)
"Specialty plumber" means anyone who has been issued a specialty
certificate of competency limited to installation, maintenance, and repair of
the plumbing of single-family dwellings, duplexes, and apartment buildings that
do not exceed three stories.
Sec.
3. RCW
18.106.020 and 1994 c 174 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
No person may engage in or offer to engage in the trade of plumbing without
having a journeyman certificate, specialty certificate, ((or)) temporary
permit, or ((without being)) trainee certificate. A trainee must be
supervised by a person who has a journeyman certificate, specialty certificate,
or temporary permit, as specified in RCW 18.106.070. No contractor may
employ a person to engage in or offer to engage in the trade of plumbing unless
the person employed has a journeyman certificate, specialty certificate, ((or))
temporary permit, or ((is supervised by a person who has a journeyman
certificate, specialty certificate, or temporary permit)) trainee
certificate. For the purposes of this section, "contractor"
means any person or body of persons, corporate or otherwise, engaged in any
work covered by the provisions of this chapter, chapter 18.27 RCW, or chapter
19.28 RCW, by way of trade or business. However, in no case shall this section
apply to a contractor who is contracting for work on his or her own residence.
(2)
No person may engage in or offer to engage in medical gas piping
installation without having a certificate of competency as a journeyman plumber
and a medical gas piping installer endorsement. A trainee may engage in
medical gas piping installation if he or she has a training certificate and is
supervised by a person with a medical gas piping installer endorsement. No
contractor may employ a person to engage in or offer to engage in medical gas
piping installation unless the person employed has a certificate of competency
as a journeyman plumber and a medical gas piping installer endorsement.
(3)
Violation of subsection (1) or (2) of this section is an infraction.
Each day in which a person engages in the trade of plumbing in violation of
subsection (1) or (2) of this section or employs a person in violation
of subsection (1) or (2) of this section is a separate infraction. Each
worksite at which a person engages in the trade of plumbing in violation of
subsection (1) or (2) of this section or at which a person is employed
in violation of subsection (1) or (2) of this section is a separate
infraction.
(((3)))
(4) Notices of infractions for violations of subsection (1) or (2)
of this section may be issued to:
(a)
The person engaging in or offering to engage in the trade of plumbing in
violation of subsection (1) or (2) of this section;
(b)
The contractor in violation of subsection (1) or (2) of this section;
and
(c)
The contractor's employee who authorized the work assignment of the person employed
in violation of subsection (1) or (2) of this section.
Sec.
4. RCW
18.106.030 and 1977 ex.s. c 149 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
Any
person desiring to be issued a certificate of competency as provided in this
chapter shall deliver evidence in a form prescribed by the department affirming
that said person has had sufficient experience in as well as demonstrated
general competency in the trade of plumbing or specialty plumbing so as to
qualify him to make an application for a certificate of competency as a
journeyman plumber or specialty plumber((: PROVIDED, That)). Completion
of a course of study in the plumbing trade in the armed services of the United
States or at a school accredited by the ((coordinating council on
occupational education)) work force training and education coordinating
board shall constitute sufficient evidence of experience and competency to
enable such person to make application for a certificate of competency.
Any
person desiring to be issued a medical gas piping installer endorsement shall
deliver evidence in a form prescribed by the department affirming that the
person has met the requirements established by the department for a medical gas
piping installer endorsement.
In
addition to supplying the evidence as prescribed in this section, each
applicant for a certificate of competency shall submit an application for such
certificate on such form and in such manner as shall be prescribed by the
director of the department.
Sec.
5. RCW
18.106.050 and 1983 c 124 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The department, with the advice of the advisory board, shall prepare a written
examination to be administered to applicants for certificates of competency for
journeyman plumber and specialty plumber. The examination shall be constructed
to determine:
(((1)))
(a) Whether the applicant possesses varied general knowledge of the
technical information and practical procedures that are identified with the
trade of journeyman plumber or specialty plumber; and
(((2)))
(b) Whether the applicant is familiar with the applicable plumbing codes
and the administrative rules of the department pertaining to plumbing and
plumbers.
The
department shall administer the examination to eligible persons. All
applicants shall, before taking the examination, pay to the department a fee.
(2)
For purposes of the medical gas piping installer endorsement, the department
may enter into a contract with a nationally recognized testing agency to
develop, administer, and score medical gas piping installer examinations. All
applicants shall, before taking an examination for a medical gas piping
installer endorsement, pay the required examination fee. The department shall
set the examination fee by contract with a nationally recognized testing
agency. The fee shall cover but not exceed the costs of preparing and
administering the examination and the materials necessary to conduct the
practical elements of the examination. The department shall approve training
courses and set the fees for training courses for the medical gas piping
installer endorsement.
The
department shall certify the results of the examination, and shall notify the
applicant in writing whether he or she has passed or failed. Any applicant who
has failed the examination may retake the examination, upon the terms and after
a period of time that the director shall set by rule. The director may not
limit the number of times that a person may take the examination.
Sec.
6. RCW
18.106.070 and 1985 c 465 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The department shall issue a certificate of competency to all applicants who
have passed the examination and have paid the fee for the certificate. The
certificate shall bear the date of issuance, and shall expire on the birthdate
of the holder immediately following the date of issuance. The certificate
shall be renewable every other year, upon application, on or before the
birthdate of the holder. A renewal fee shall be assessed for each
certificate. If a person fails to renew the certificate by the renewal date,
he or she must pay a doubled fee. If the person does not renew the certificate
within ninety days of the renewal date, he or she must retake the examination
and pay the examination fee.
The
journeyman plumber and specialty plumber certificates of
competency, the medical gas piping installer endorsement, and the
temporary permit provided for in this chapter grant the holder the right to
engage in the work of plumbing as a journeyman plumber ((or)),
specialty plumber, or medical gas piping installer, in accordance with
their provisions throughout the state and within any of its political
subdivisions on any job or any employment without additional proof of
competency or any other license or permit or fee to engage in the work. This
section does not preclude employees from adhering to a union security clause in
any employment where such a requirement exists.
(2)
A person who is indentured in an apprenticeship program approved under chapter
49.04 RCW for the plumbing construction trade or who is learning the plumbing
construction trade may work in the plumbing construction trade if supervised by
a certified journeyman plumber or a certified specialty plumber in that
plumber's specialty. All apprentices and individuals learning the plumbing
construction trade shall obtain a plumbing training certificate from the
department. The certificate shall authorize the holder to learn the plumbing
construction trade while under the direct supervision of a journeyman plumber
or a specialty plumber working in his or her specialty. The holder of the
plumbing training certificate shall renew the certificate annually. At the
time of renewal, the holder shall provide the department with an accurate list
of the holder's employers in the plumbing construction industry for the
previous year and the number of hours worked for each employer. An annual fee
shall be charged for the issuance or renewal of the certificate. The
department shall set the fee by rule. The fee shall cover but not exceed the
cost of administering and enforcing the trainee certification and supervision
requirements of this chapter. Apprentices and individuals learning the
plumbing construction trade shall have their plumbing training certificates in
their possession at all times that they are performing plumbing work. They
shall show their certificates to an authorized representative of the department
at the representative's request.
(3)
Any person who has been issued a plumbing training certificate under this
chapter may work if that person is under supervision. Supervision shall
consist of a person being on the same job site and under the control of either
a journeyman plumber or an appropriate specialty plumber who has an applicable
certificate of competency issued under this chapter. Either a journeyman
plumber or an appropriate specialty plumber shall be on the same job site as
the noncertified individual for a minimum of seventy-five percent of each
working day unless otherwise provided in this chapter. The ratio of
noncertified individuals to certified journeymen or specialty plumbers working
on a job site shall be: (a) From July 28, 1985, through June 30, 1988, not
more than three noncertified plumbers working on any one job site for every
certified journeyman or specialty plumber; (b) effective July 1, 1988, not more
than two noncertified plumbers working on any one job site for every certified
specialty plumber or journeyman plumber working as a specialty plumber; and (c)
effective July 1, 1988, not more than one noncertified plumber working on any
one job site for every certified journeyman plumber working as a journeyman
plumber.
An
individual who has a current training certificate and who has successfully
completed or is currently enrolled in an approved apprenticeship program or in
a technical school program in the plumbing construction trade in a school
approved by the ((commission for vocational education)) work force
training and education coordinating board, may work without direct on-site
supervision during the last six months of meeting the practical experience
requirements of this chapter.
(4)
An individual who has a current training certificate and who has successfully
completed or is currently enrolled in a medical gas piping installer training
course approved by the department may work on medical gas piping systems if the
individual is under the direct supervision of a certified medical gas piping
installer who holds a medical gas piping installer endorsement one hundred
percent of a working day on a one-to-one ratio.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. This
act takes effect July 1, 1998.
